This invention relates generally to automated systems and, more particularly, to methods and systems for operating an automated system.
At least some known automated manufacturing processes execute a procedure to safely shut down the manufacturing resources associated with the process when the process is finished. For example, if a process utilizes a manufacturing line for a production run, the process must release that line upon completion. Generally, this procedure is run whether the process is completed normally, encounters an exception, or is canceled by an administrator.
Further, if a server that is running the manufacturing process is stopped, the process must be restored upon restart to continue executing the process. Ideally, the process is restored to a known state. Generally, a procedure is run to initialize the manufacturing resources associated with the process when the process is restored. Further, on occasion, some steps of a process will need to be performed again. This typically happens because a re-work of the product is necessary. In such an event, it would be beneficial to jump to a previous sub-process step. Similarly, process steps are occasionally skipped because the steps do not need to be performed or cannot be performed. In either of these scenarios, procedures may be run to clean up the possible partial execution of the current step. Moreover, some processes are executed continuously such that the process is started immediately after the previous process is completed. Accordingly, allocating resources each time the process executes may be expensive. Currently, there is no procedure to allocate these resources before executing a procedure to release the resources when the continuous process is stopped.